Philip Noel-Baker

The Philip Noel-Baker gallery sits in Derby and pulls together the life's work of a man who was as committed to peace as he was to Olympic running. It's a proper fascinating corner if you're into 20th-century history or social activism - Noel-Baker was a Nobel Peace Prize winner, which tells you something straight away.

You'll find personal correspondence, photographs, and documents that map his journey from athlete to politician to passionate campaigner for disarmament. The scale is intimate rather than sprawling, so you won't need more than an hour here, maybe ninety minutes if you read everything. It's the kind of place that rewards slow looking - old letters still carry real weight when you read them in person.

This isn't really a family drop-in sort of gallery. History enthusiasts and anyone interested in 20th-century British politics will find real substance here. If you're staying at Hill Farm Camping & Caravan Park, just four miles out, it makes a solid rainy afternoon excursion or a nice cultural break from woodland walks.

Derby itself has enough to keep you occupied - the museums here are solid - so you could easily combine it with other stops. The gallery doesn't get rammed, which is nice for concentration. Worth checking opening hours and admission details before you head over, as visitor information for smaller collections can be a bit thin on the ground.